After 31 players broke par Thursday at the Masters, the lords of Augusta have toughened up the course with tighter pin placements. On Friday, with 81 of the 96 players on the course or having completed their rounds, only 11 are under par.
The lords are powerful, but the presumption is they have little to do with another factor that has made play tougher in round two – the increased wind. Players are having a tougher time with club selection today, peering at tree tops and flags, trying to judge Augusta’s notoriously swirling winds.
The par 4 fourteenth hole is playing like a par 5 today (4.71 stroke average) after it played to a 4.11 average on Thursday. Other holes playing tougher today are No. 3 (3.79/4.12), No. 8 (4.80/5.26), and No. 15 (4.62/5.07).
Tiger Update: After playing the front nine, Tiger Woods is at even for the day, which means he is inching up the scoreboard, as he remains two strokes behind Fred Couples, Ian Poulter, and Ricky Barnes. Woods has one birdie (the par 5 second) and one bogey (the par 3 fourth) is missing lots of greens, but has made several par saves.
